If you work locally, there’s a good chance you’ll pass by the Orange women’s tennis team bus on your way home sometime soon.
Just let like year, they’ll be a barnstorming to open their season.
The court at Orange High was replaced last year leaving Orange without a home court for the opening month of the season. They were forced to play and practice at the Fairview Courts, various locations in Durham and the Mebane Arts Center. At the time, the belief was it would only be a minor inconvenience that would lead to a newer, better home.
Within days of the new court’s opening, cracks began to surface. The same thing happened on the new court at Cedar Ridge High.
So immediately after the men’s seasons at Orange and Cedar Ridge ended in May, local work crews began the process of starting all over again.
Orange is hopeful to play its first home match by mid-September. Until then, their season starts on Monday with a match against Eno River Academy. For the second year in a row, two teams from Hillsborough will square off in Mebane.
As their own court faces do-over construction, Coach Justin Webb’s team has practiced mainly at the Duke School this summer. After a steamy day start to practice on July 27, the Lady Panthers have practiced amid the mildest August temperatures in recorded history. Every day they’ve supposed to workout at Riverside High in Durham, it’s rained.
“We’ve been all over the place,” Webb said. “The positive is a lot of the girls who are on the team went through this last year. So I think they’re used to it. Not to say they’re happy, but I think it helps these situations. The Duke School has been very nice to us.”
Last year, Orange made history. For the first time in the 43-year history of the program, Orange hosted a match in the state playoffs. The Lady Panthers defeated Northern Nash 5-2 in Hillsborough. Eventual 3A State Champion Terry Sanford defeated Orange in the second round.
Webb returns a veteran team. There are nine seniors, including five of six starters, returning. #1 singles player Shannon Sollars, who reached the state doubles tournament with her older sister Erin, was the only starter who graduated.
“Our team is senior and sophomore heavy,” Webb said. “There’s a good senior group but there’s also a good sophomore group. The divide is really nice. We have a mixture of veterans and younger players.”
Many of them are year-round athletes. Adelyn Alvis, a regular starter in singles and doubles, was the 2025 Central Conference Field Athlete of the Year last spring in outdoor track and field. She qualified for the state championships in indoor and outdoor track and field.
Molly Kruse, another senior, is a soccer player. She’s the younger sister of Connor Kruse, the all-time leading scorer in Orange lacrosse history. Junior Ellie Wilson and senior Evelyn Gover are also three-sport athletes. Last year, Wilson tied Sollars for the team lead with ten singles victories.
“The good thing is they’re athletes,” Webb said. “You don’t have to teach competitiveness or athleticism. They come out here and compete every day. They have a drive and a motivation. That’s nice for a coach to have.”
In the new Big Seven Conference, the team to beat will be Carrboro, who reached the Eastern Regional Championship match in the 3A Dual State Playoffs last year. Seaforth, which is entering its fifth year, won three straight Mid-Carolina Conference championships in the 2A ranks. They have won 33 straight conference matches. It’s last league defeat came on September 27, 2021 to Chatham Central.
“In some ways, I’m excited about the new conference,” Webb said. “There’s going to be some great teams that we’re playing. That will push us. It will be good competition.”
While Orange has left the Central Conference, they will still face many of their former league rivals from Alamance County. Nonconference matches against Southern Alamance and Western Alamance are on the schedule.
